Tag Archives: russia

Clintons, corruption, Intelligence Community

The Biggest Scandal That Never Was: Russian Intelligence had Infiltrated Hillarys Campaign

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Brian Cates

After the American public spent more than five long years being relentlessly assailed with the narrative that Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign [and it’s subsequent presidency] was compromised by Russian agents, not only has the truth emerged about the vicious dirty trick operation launched by the Hillary Clinton team, the September 2020 declassification of CIA briefing notes created in July of 2016 raised very real questions about which campaign it actually was that had Russian agents embedded within it.

But none of those questions were even asked, much less answered at the time by the mainstream press or anyone in either party in Washington DC.

I have been asking the pertinent questions ever since former CIA Director John Brennan’s briefing notes were declassified and publicly released by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. I wrote entire columns about the issue, both at The Epoch Times and at Uncover DC.

Now, if you haven’t heard about the Brennan briefing notes, what was in them, who he briefed and when, you’re probably not going to believe it at first when I lay this out, but this is all verified with evidence. It’s not speculation or wish-casting.

For dramatic effect, I’m going to go over the boring version of the timeline that leaves out just one crucial detail. When the briefing notes have been covered in the news media, this is the version everybody sees:

  1. On July 26, 2016, a strategy meeting of the top level of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign took place.
  2. During that strategy meeting, Clinton’s top foreign policy advisor presented her with a plan for her approval.
  3. The plan involved paying political operatives in the campaign’s employ to manufacture fake Trump/Russia collusion scandals in order to distract the American public from her ongoing email server scandal.
  4. After having the plan explained to her, Hillary Clinton gave her approval
  5. The CIA soon learned about this top-level Clinton campaign strategy meeting, and CIA Director John Brennan went to the White House to brief President Obama and several members of the National Security Counsel about both the plan to vilify President Trump with fake Russian scandals and Clinton’s approval of the plan.
  6. More than a month later, the CIA sent an investigative referral to the FBI about the Russian intelligence analysis to James Comey and Peter Strzok.

OK now I’m going go through that same timeline again. See if you **spot** what I added in.

  1. On July 26, 2016, a strategy meeting of the top level of the Hillary Clinton for President campaign took place.
  2. During that strategy meeting, Clinton’s top foreign policy advisor presented her with a plan he and others had come up with for her approval.
  3. The plan involved paying political operatives in the campaign’s employ to manufacture fake Trump/Russia collusion scandals in order to distract the American public from her ongoing email server scandal.
  4. After having the plan explained to her, Hillary Clinton gave her approval.
  5. Russian intelligence agents very quickly learned what was discussed at this Clinton campaign strategy meeting, and created their own intelligence analysis of the meeting.
  6. The CIA soon learned about this top-level Clinton campaign strategy meeting when it intercepted the Russian intelligence analysis, and CIA Director John Brennan went to the White House to brief President Obama and several members of the National Security Counsel about both the plan to vilify President Trump with fake Russian scandals and Clinton’s approval of the plan

I said none of that above is speculation. I’m going to show you the documentation that supports the claims. You’ll see every one of the 6 points above is supported with documentary evidence.

The Brennan handwritten notes from his briefing with President Obama and members of the NSC at the White House either very late in July 2016 or early August 2016:

The September 2020 investigative referral that the CIA sent to the FBI:

The Ratcliffe letter to Congress in September of 2020 announcing the declassification of both Brennan’s briefing notes and the CIA investigative referral:

Ratcliffe’s letter to the US Congress that accompanied the declassified documents when they were made public:

As you can see, all six points in the timeline are fully supported by the documentation that was declassified, even down to the fact it was Hillary Clinton’s chief foreign policy advisor Jake Sullivan that presented her with the plan to target Trump with fake Russia scandals.

How Did The Russians Find Out So Fast?

The one thing **everybody avoids discussing** for the past two years is exactly how Russian intelligence agents were able to so quickly create a detailed analysis of this key Clinton campaign strategy meeting where the dirty trick operation targeting Trump with fake Russia scandals was presented to her and she approved it.

The one question nobody dares ask is: how did the Russians find out almost instantly what was discussed at this meeting and get an analysis of it created, which allowed the CIA to intercept it and then quickly go brief Obama and members of his NSC about it?

IF that Russian intelligence analysis was real, then that means the Hillary Clinton for President campaign either had a Russian agent embedded at a high level or someone at the highest level of the campaign was unwittingly handing the details to a Russian agent.

“That’s Just More Russian Disinformation!”

The one objection that’s going to be immediately raised when this question comes up of how Russian intelligence got this info so quickly is that the intelligence analysis the CIA intercepted was just Russian propaganda; it wasn’t real. The Hillary Clinton campaign never held a strategy meeting in July of 2016 where Jake Sullivan presented her with a plan to vilify Trump by manufacturing fake Russia scandals. It never happened.

The problem with this objection is that Brennan and the CIA took the Russian intelligence analysis they’d intercepted so seriously that Brennan went to the White House to brief the President and the NSC about it.

And then more than a month later, in September the CIA was still taking the Russian analysis seriously when they sent the investigative referral to both then-FBI Director James Comey and Peter Strzok.

While two years ago back in September/October of 2020 it was pretty darn easy to dismiss the new declassification as just ‘Russian disinformation’, a whole lot more evidence has surfaced since then about the fact that the Clinton campaign did indeed launch a dirty trick operation that targeted the Trump campaign with fake Russia scandals.

If the Russian intel analysis that the CIA intercepted and briefed Obama about is fake, it just so happens it was an amazingly accurate fake.

Two years ago several key facts about the manufacture of the fake Steele Dossier and Alfa Bank hoaxes by Clinton’s private operatives had not yet been made public. For that reason the mainstream press had to expend little effort in simply dismissing the Ratcliffe declassification as ‘mere Russian disinformation’.

John Brennan himself, when braced with the implications of his own briefing notes in October of 2020, had this to say to Jake Tapper on CNN:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZpKWBnntPIs?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

So when asked about these notes and what they say, Brennan obfuscates and lies about his own briefing notes.

The CIA intercepted a Russian intelligence analysis of a very key top level Clinton campaign strategy meeting in which her top foreign policy advisor presented her with a plan to vilify Trump with fake Russia scandals as a way to distract the public from her own email server scandal. And Clinton approved the plan. THIS IS WHAT BRENNAN’S OWN NOTES SAY.

What the former CIA Director artfully dodges in this video above is the real reason the CIA sent an investigative referral to the FBI: they wanted to know who at the very top of the Clinton campaign was either a Russian agent or blabbing details to a Russian agent.

People miss the mark when they think what the CIA was asking the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division to do was to investigate to see if Hillary Clinton’s campaign had indeed approved and launched a dirty trick operation targeting Donald Trump. NOTHING ABOUT THAT HAS TO DO WITH COUNTERINTELLIGENCE.

No, what then-FBI Director James Comey and Peter Strzok were being asked to investigate and find out was **who in the Clinton campaign was compromised by Russia**. THAT is the kind of thing a counterintelligence investigation looks into.

How did a foreign intelligence service get all the details of this Clinton meeting?

And I watched 2 years ago as nobody cared to even ask these questions, much less answer them.

But I have hope that someday these important questions will be addressed. Because I suspect Special Counsel John Durham is very interested in how Russian intelligence so quickly got an analysis of the meeting.

I believe Durham’s very interested in anything having to do with the Clinton dirty trick campaign targeting Trump for fake Russia scandals, and that would include how Brennan came to the White House in mid-2016 to brief both President Obama and key members of the NSC about it.

I’ll close with this: The Vice President is a key member of the NSC. In fact, the VP is what’s referred to as a ‘statutory attendee’ when the NSC meets. He’s required to be there.

It is **extremely likely** that current President Joe Biden was in the room when CIA Director Brennan briefed Obama and other NSC members in mid-2016 about the coming Trump/Russia hoaxes that the Clinton campaign was preparing to release.

They all knew. By mid-2016. Long before any FISA warrant application was presented to spy on Carter Page.

They all knew, nobody was fooled by the Clinton private operatives coming to them with the Steele Dossier hoax or the Alfa Bank hoax.

Obama knew. Biden knew. Comey knew. Brennan knew. Strzok knew. Susan Rice knew.

THEY. ALL. KNEW.

And they played along anyway and pretended they didn’t know anything at all about a dirty trick campaign using paid operatives being sent to them by Hillary Clinton. So they could spy on and investigate and sabotage Donald J. Trump.

And Durham will 100% prove this.

And you can quote me on that.

Notable Occurrence, russia

Two Russian Oligarchs Die in Mysterious Circumstances 24 Hours Apart

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Questions look set to be asked after two Russian oligarchs, both linked to gas giants, apparently murdered their wives and daughters before killing themselves—within two days of each other.

In both cases, the alarm was raised by the slain families’ surviving child.

Former Kremlin official and Gazprombank vice-president Vladislav Avayev, 51, was found dead in his luxury Moscow apartment alongside the bodies of his wife and 13-year-old daughter on Monday. It appeared he had shot them before turning the gun on himself. The bodies were found by distraught 26-year-old daughter Anastasia after she was unable to get hold of her family.

The following day former Novatek deputy chairman Sergey Protosenya, 55, his wife Natalya, 53, and 18-year-old daughter, Maria, were found dead at their Spanish mansion. The scene suggested the women had been stabbed, before Protosenya hanged himself in the garden. The alarm was raised by the couple’s teenage son, who was staying in France, after he was unable to reach his parents at their home in the coastal town of Lloret de Mar.

Sergey Protosenya
Sergey Protosenya, 55, who was found dead on Tuesday, along with his wife Natalya, 53, and their 18-year-old daughter.FACEBOOK

Spanish investigators are now reportedly trying to work out whether the Protosenya deaths were the result of a domestic murder-suicide or an organized hit.

According to Spanish website El Punt Avui, Protosenya’s estimated fortune was $440 million. He had reportedly trained as an engineer and economist and worked in senior financial roles at gas companies. An archived page on gas giant Novatek’s website, dating back to March 2015 and seen by Newsweek, named Sergey Protosenya as the company’s deputy chairman after a shake-up of the management board. He is not listed on the page detailing the company’s current board members.

Unconfirmed reports from El Punt Avui suggested some inconsistencies had been discovered at the Protosenya home, with the news site claiming the two women were stabbed as they slept leaving a pool of blood. However, no blood stains were found on Protosenya, the report said.

The deaths of two gas oligarchs, and their families, within two days of each other is likely to raise questions, despite the appearance of murder-suicides. Spanish detectives will be combing through the evidence to establish whether the incidents were tragedies sparked by domestic violence, or whether they had been staged.

Spanish authorities are reportedly so far working on the hypothesis that the incident was indeed a murder-suicide. A minute’s silence was held in Lloret de Mar on Wednesday at a rally protesting against violence towards women, that was held as a direct consequence of the Protosenya deaths.

Russian oligarchs have been in the news recently following Western sanctions on them over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is unclear whether Avayev and Protosenya had been directly impacted themselves.

Alongside Western pressure on oligarchs, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to target the billionaires too, during a rant about Westernized Russians last month.

He warned: “I do not judge those with villas in Miami or the French Riviera. Or [those] who can’t get by without oysters or foie gras or so-called ‘gender freedoms’…The problem is they mentally exist there, and not here, with our people, with Russia.”

He went on to call for a “self-purification” of the nation and there were reports of an “exodus” of private jets, apparently fleeing Russia in the wake of his comments.

Newsweek has reached out to Spanish police and Gazprombank officials in Russia.

After Newsweek spoke with a Novatek spokeswoman on Thursday, the gas giant emailed a statement praising Protosenya as a “wonderful family man” and dismissing media speculation about his death as “not related to reality”.

The statement read: “In connection with reports of the tragic death of former member of the Company’s Management Board, Sergey Protoseni [Protosenya], and his family members, Novatek expresses its sincere condolences to all those affected by this tragic situation. Sergey Protosenya [Protosenya] worked in the Novatek Group from 1997 to 2015 and has proven himself to be a wonderful person and a wonderful family man, a strong professional who has made a great contribution to the formation and development of the company. Unfortunately, there have been speculations on this topic in the media, but we are convinced that these speculations are not related to reality. We hope that the law enforcement agencies of Spain will conduct a thorough and objective investigation and sort out what happened.”

Biden, Intelligence Community, russia

“Not What We Are Seeing” – US Intel Officials Reject Biden’s “Genocide” Claims

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Zero Hedge
April 17th, 2022

Earlier this week, Fraudulent President Biden appeared to veer off script in the middle of his ‘blame Putin, not our idiotic policies, for your collapsing cost of living’ speech, when he dropped the ‘g’ word…

“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away.”

As the world waited for another rapid walk-back by White House staffers of another Biden gaffe, the 79-year-old doubled-down…

“Yes, I called it genocide. Because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian.”

The comments sparked reactions from around the diplomatic world.

French President Emmanuel Macron was the most outspoken, refusing to back Biden’s claim that Russia is committing “genocide” in Ukraine. The French leader instead warned that an escalation of rhetoric wouldn’t bring peace.

On the same day Biden accused Russia of genocide, Newsweek published an article quoting a senior official from the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency who said the civilian casualties in Ukraine are typical of modern warfare and “hardly” amount to genocide.

The DIA official: said “I am not for a second excusing Russia’s war crimes, nor forgetting that Russia invaded the country.”

“But the number of actual deaths is hardly genocide. If Russia had that objective or was intentionally killing civilians, we’d see a lot more than less than .01 percent in places like Bucha,” the official emphasized. 

As expected, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded, according to Reuters, emphasizing the hypocrisy of a US military machine which has committed “well-known crimes” in the recent past.

“This is hardly acceptable from a president of the United States, a country that has committed well-known crimes in recent times,” Peskov described.

All of which leads to the weekend and a rather shocking report from no lessor mainstream media outlet than NBC News.

NBC News reported on Friday, citing senior government officials, that President Biden’s accusation made earlier this week that Moscow was committing “genocide” in Ukraine has raised concerns among officials in the White House and has not been confirmed by US intelligence agencies.

The claim of genocide “has so far not been corroborated by information collected by US intelligence agencies,” the report said.

Worse still, NBC quoted two State Department officials as saying that Biden’s remarks “made it harder for the agency to credibly do its job.”

“Genocide includes a goal of destroying an ethnic group or nation and, so far, that is not what we are seeing,” a U.S. intelligence official said.

NBC did provide some cover however in a later paragraph, claiming that there is concern within the intelligence community that Russia’s actions in the next phase of the war could amount to genocide, and one official said that assessment could be part of what prompted Biden to take a public position that’s ahead of his own government.

What is perhaps more shocking about this is the fact that it is NBC News that is reporting this – not a good look for a president who relies significantly on the mainstream media to clean up his messes with gaslighting and memory holes.

In case you wondered, the official word from The White House is comical in its brevity:

“These aren’t gaffes,” said one person close to the White House. “He’s doing this very purposefully.”

As the world tip-toes towards WWIII, should we be reassured by that?

russia, Ukraine, War

8-Mile Long Russian Convoy Signals Huge Assault Readied To Take Donbas: Pentagon

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During a Monday press briefing, the Pentagon told reporters that it’s observed major Russian preparations for a bigger move deeper into the Donbas region of Ukraine. 

Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters that based on US intelligence, the Russian military is now “trying to resupply and reinforce their efforts in the Donbas.” This is also as Western media reports have described an eight-mile-long armored and infantry convoy that appears to be preparing for the fresh assault. 

“The convoy, exposed in commercial satellite imagery, stretches an estimated eight miles. It appears to contain vehicles to command and supply infantry units and possibly helicopters, said the official, who provided intelligence assessments on condition of anonymity,” USA Today writes.

Kirby in the briefing described that “It does seem to be a mix of personnel carrying vehicles as well as armored vehicles and maybe some artillery, maybe some enabling capabilities.”

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He further cited satellite imagery that shows the convoy headed south toward Izyum, which is at the front line of the extent of Russian advance in Donbas. Kirby described these as major reinforcements.

Last month Russian forces drew back their positions outside of Kiev and with Russian commanders issuing formal statements confirming that the ‘special operation’ would now focus on liberating the Donbas region in the east. This has fueled speculation both that the Kremlin may be disappointed in how things are going so far, given the fierce Ukrainian resistance, and could be eyeing a partition of the country into eastern and western halves. 

According to The Hill citing Pentagon leadership, the US has been expecting the battle for Donbas to intensify imminently: 

The comments come after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley on Thursday warned there is a “significant battle yet ahead” around the Donbas, where the Kremlin intends to “mass forces and continue their assault” on the country after failing to take the capital of Kyiv.   

President Zelensky too is now warning of an impending major new Russian push to take the whole of Donbas, telling South Korean lawmakers in a virtual address, “The occupiers have sent dozens of thousands of soldiers and colossal numbers of equipment to prepare new attacks,” according to NBC News. 

Biden, Geopolitics, Notable Occurrence

Biden to Speak with India’s Modi as U.S. Continues Pressing for Tough Stance Against Russia

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Sophie Mann
April 11, 2022

President Biden will speak Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the U.S. leader continues to encourage other world leaders to take a hardline stance against  Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

India has thus far taken a neutral stance on the war, which has raised flags in Washington but garnered praise from Russian leaders including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He recently applauded India for assessing “the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way.”

Last week, India abstained in a successful United Nations Human Rights Council vote to suspend member nation Russia over allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki says Biden will discuss with Modi the continued impacts of Russia’s invasion and “mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets.”

She also said the leaders, who are meeting virtually, will discuss “strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security, democracy, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.”

India has continued purchasing Russian oil and gas, despite pressure from Western allies to consider other options. Last month, India’s state run oil company purchased 3 million barrels of crude oil from Russia at what it reported to be a 20% below benchmark price discount. 

Commentary, Controversy, War

The Irony of Condemning The Russian Invasion of Ukraine & Jailing Julian Assange

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ARJUN WALIA
MARCH 15, 2022

  • The Facts:
    • The condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is coming from governments that have committed war crimes, without media coverage, for decades.
    • This does not justify Russia’s actions.
    • Any actions taken by governments that harm, displace and kill innocent people should be condemned and forbidden.

  • Reflect On:
    • Why do we only hear a one-sided story from Western legacy media?
    • Why are people who have a different view of this conflict, and other issues, instantly condemned in today’s society?
    • Are we creating a culture where people who oppose narratives can’t even speak, share their opinion or fear to do so?
    • What’s happening in our world when relationships are ruined due to a certain narrative we believe?

Human rights groups, civil liberty groups and press freedom advocates received a glimmer of hope when Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, won the right to ask the Supreme Court to block his extradition to the United States.

At that time last January, the High Court ruled that Assange had an arguable point of law and that he can petition the Supreme Court to hear the case. This was allowed to happen over concerns about how the US justice system would treat Assange, especially given the fact that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) wanted to assassinate him.

Heart’s sank on Monday when the British Supreme Court refused Assange’s latest appeal to prevent his extradition to the US. The case now moves to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to authorize the extradition.

According to his Lawyer Barry Pollack, Assange will continue the legal process fighting his extradition to the United States to “face criminal charges for publishing truthful and newsworthy information.”

Assange was charged under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, largely for actions rightfully recognized as protected news-gathering practices. He made public previously classified documents exposing various war crimes carried out by the US and other governments.

A favourite quote of mine comes to mind here from Nils Melzer, the Human Rights Chair of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law who has served as the UN Rapporteur on Torture and Other Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

“How far have we sunk if telling the truth becomes a crime? How far have we sunk if we prosecute people that expose war crimes for exposing war crimes? How far have we sunk when we no longer prosecute our own war criminals? Because we identify more with them, than we identify with the people that actually expose these crimes. What does that tell about us and about our governments? In a democracy, the power does not belong to the government, but to the people. But the people have to claim it. Secrecy disempowers the people because it prevents them from exercising democratic control, which is precisely why governments want secrecy.”

 Nils Melzer, Human Rights Chair of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law

This is why it’s ironic that the western military alliance and their allies overseas are condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The point is not that it shouldn’t be condemned, any violent conflict that escalates to the point where innocent people have to fear for their lives should always be condemned. The point is that it’s hypocritical given that the West has done the same, and in many cases the citizenry is programmed to praise it.

Multiple governments, the United States included, are guilty of some of the most significant war crimes in human history. Just look at what’s happened in Iraq and various parts of the Middle East over the decades. Governments funding, arming and even ‘creating’ terrorist organizations that they claim to be ‘fighting against’ has been a common theme exposed by Assange and many others.

Again, this doesn’t justify the Russian invasion, but it’s important to note that facts about tensions that have been boiling for quite some time have been omitted.

War and geopolitical issues are always followed by propaganda campaigns by governments to influence the perception of their own citizenry. The screenshot below is a great example. This is an unfortunate part of our reality, and the most horrendous atrocities have always been committed and disguised as a noble action.

Stella Moris, partner of Julian Assange and mother to his two boys explains,

“Julian was just doing his job, which was to publish the truth about wrongdoing. His loyalty is the same as that which all journalists should have: to the public. Not to the spy agencies of a foreign power. He published evidence that the country that is trying to extradite him committed war crimes and covered them up; that it committed gross violations that killed tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children; that it tortured and rendered; that it bombed children, had death squads, and murdered Reuters journalists in cold blood; that it bribed foreign officials and bullied less powerful countries into harming their own citizens, and that it also corrupted allied nations’ judicial inquiries into US wrongdoing.”

Stella Moris

The US alone has displaced between 38 and 60 million people across eight countries since 2001. Keep this in mind the next time you hear US government officials pledge to defend “international law,” “human rights,” or “sovereignty and territorial integrity” abroad, or any government for that matter.

There is ongoing conflict on this planet almost at all times, the US-Saudi led war in Yemen has killed nearly half a million people and more than 20 million are facing famine.

Making Sense of War Is Difficult

These days it’s nearly impossible to decipher what’s actually happening, but does it really matter? Innocent people have become the sacrifice of governments who seem to enjoy playing their war games. When it comes to the Russian Ukraine conflict, we are only presented with one side from legacy media, while all other perspectives, whether legit or not, are deemed a “conspiracy theory” or, in this case, “Russian propaganda.”

We saw the same thing with COVID. Thousands of doctors and scientists were censored on social media platforms, including the British Medical Journal, as well as ridiculed by legacy media for presenting evidence calling into question government measures like lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

An open, balanced, and grounded discussion is never had. Opposing points are never addressed, and dialogue is not welcome. You’re not allowed to ask questions about COVID in the same way you’re not allowed to question the mainstream narrative with regards to what’s happening in Ukraine. If you are, you’re condemned for it.

Is this a slippery slope? Have we created an unsafe space for meaningful dialogue? What will the effects be of the continued shutdown of dialogue?

This underlying cultural theme is why people like Julian Assange are in jail – and suffering. This is why the US Department of Homeland Security has stated that sharing “misinformation” online may be considered domestic terrorism. The only issue is, they (the US government) are the ones acting as ‘the ministry of truth.’

A few days ago Saudi Arabia executed 81 people for having “deviant beliefs.”

Ben Wizner, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, American Civil Liberties Union, explains with regards to Assange,

“For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges against a publisher for the publication of truthful information…It establishes a dangerous precedent that can be used to target all news organizations that hold the government accountable by publishing its secrets. And it’s equally dangerous for U.S. journalists who uncover the secrets of other nations.

Ben Wizner, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

Seeking truth threatens the power and control governments and corporations continue to grasp day by day. What we see today is the justification of unethical actions that are deemed by government to be justified for the good of the world. This requires massive propaganda campaigns to convince a large portion of the citizenry to obey, and stigmatize those who don’t.

“National Security” has become a term used to justify secrecy on virtually anything that threatens the power, control, and reputation of governments and organizations that are tasked with looking out for humanity’s best interests.

What’s The Solution?

It’s high time citizens of the world refuse to get caught up in the back and forth banter of what’s happening, what’s right and what’s wrong. This doesn’t mean running away from truth-seeking, but instead seeking a different and more balanced conversation on the grounds of good faith. It means being ok with the idea that the “popular” narrative and the one presented to us by our “leaders” may not be the only one.

The world is growing tired of people being divided on both sides of a crisis to the point where relationships with friends and family are ending because we cannot find comfortable ways to discuss ideas.

At the heart of any meaningful action in our world is our ability to make sense of reality and unite on a direction. The problem we face in sensemaking is breaking down as we are shutting out a balanced inquiry and pretending that anyone who opposes an idea in the mainstream is just operating off of ‘misinformation.’

We need to unite in something where most of us agree, allowing and giving governments the power to kill innocent people should not be tolerable. It’s not fair that innocent people continue to suffer with regard to complications that have nothing to do with them. I’m not sure what the solution is. A massive shift in consciousness is needed on this planet, and that shift needs to happen in those who “govern” us and seem to desire more power and control. At the same time, an “us versus them” mentality also seems useless.

SOURCE: The Pulse

Geopolitics, Information War, Notable Occurrence

NBC News: the U.S. Putting Out Phony Intel As Part of ‘Info War’ With Russia

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Source: Chris Menahan | Information Liberation

The US lied about Russia moving chemical weapons to the border of Ukraine, lied about China giving Russia arms, and lied about Putin being misled by his advisors as part of an “info war” with Russia, according to a new report from NBC News. 

From NBC News, “In a break with the past, U.S. is using intel to fight an info war with Russia, even when the intel isn’t rocked solid”:

It was an attention-grabbing assertion that made headlines around the world: U.S. officials said they had indications suggesting Russia might be preparing to use chemical agents in Ukraine.

President Joe Biden later said it publicly. But three U.S. officials told NBC News this week there is no evidence Russia has brought any chemical weapons near Ukraine. They said the U.S. released the information to deter Russia from using the banned munitions.

It’s one of a string of examples of the Biden administration’s breaking with recent precedent by deploying declassified intelligence as part of an information war against Russia. The administration has done so even when the intelligence wasn’t rock solid, officials said, to keep Russian President Vladimir Putin off balance. Coordinated by the White House National Security Council, the unprecedented intelligence releases have been so frequent and voluminous, officials said, that intelligence agencies had to devote more staff members to work on the declassification process, scrubbing the information so it wouldn’t betray sources and methods.

The US lied about WMDs, lied about Saddam working with Al-Qaeda, and lied about Assad gassing his own people. 

On the same note, they lied about Trump being in bed with Russia and lied about Jan 6 being an “insurrection.”

To suggest our intelligence community putting out phony intel is a “break” from the past is just comical. It’s also comical to suggest this propaganda was to target Putin and not con the war-weary general public into supporting the war effort.

As the war has proceeded, the administration has used intelligence to warn of possible Russian actions and draw attention to Russian military failings.

At times, the Biden administration has released information in which it has less confidence or about things that are possible rather than truly likely.

Last week, U.S. officials told reporters they had intelligence suggesting Putin is being misled by his own advisers, who are afraid to tell him the truth.

But when Biden was asked about the disclosure later in the day — after it made headlines around the globe — he was less than definitive.

“That’s an open question. There’s a lot of speculation,” Biden told reporters. “But he seems to be — I’m not saying this with a certainty — he seems to be self-isolating.”

The degree to which Putin is isolated or relying on flawed information can’t be verified, said Paul Pillar, a retired career U.S. intelligence officer. “There’s no way you can prove or disprove that stuff,” he said.

Two U.S. officials said the intelligence about whether Putin’s inner circle was lying to him wasn’t conclusive — based more on analysis than hard evidence. Other officials disputed that, saying the intelligence was very reliable and had been vetted at the highest levels.

The New York Times reported a week ago it was a psyop.

In another disclosure, U.S. officials said one reason not to provide Ukraine with MiG fighter jets is that intelligence showed Russia would view the move as escalatory.

That was true, but it was also true of Stinger missiles, which the Biden administration did provide, two U.S. officials said, adding that the administration declassified the MiG information to bolster the argument not to provide them to Ukraine.

Likewise, a charge that Russia had turned to China for potential military help lacked hard evidence, a European official and two U.S. officials said. 

The U.S. officials said there are no indications China is considering providing weapons to Russia. The Biden administration put that out as a warning to China not to do so, they said.

The European official described the disclosure as “a public game to prevent any military support from China.”

These were all obvious lies and yet our controlled media put them all out without the slightest hint of skepticism, acting in essence as US intelligence operatives.

Tomorrow, they’ll dutifully put out more regime lies and disinformation fed to them from the exact same intelligence sources and demand those of us insisting it’s all lies get banned and censored off social media. 

CCP, russia, Ukraine

China Calls for Facts on “Deeply Disturbing” Bucha Massacre, Tells All Sides to “avoid Unfounded Accusations”

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Multiple days following Kiev alleging mass killings of civilians committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian town of Bucha which has been driving headlines in the West, China has weighed in for the first time, also as the EU and US ratchet sanctions on Moscow over what they say are clear war crimes.

China’s ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Zhang Jun said on Tuesday that the reports and images coming out of Bucha are “very disturbing”, but stressed that any accusations against Russian forces must be independently verified and based firmly in facts.

“Attacks against civilians are unacceptable and should not occur,” the ambassador said. “The reports and images of civilian deaths in Bucha are deeply disturbing.”

But he added a key caveat while stopping short of condemning Moscow or Vladimir Putin, stressing that “circumstances and specific causes of the incident should be verified and established” and that “all sides should exercise restraint and avoid unfounded accusations.”

And Reuters reported further his words as follows:

Speaking at a Security Council meeting, Ambassador Zhang Jun repeated Beijing’s stance that sanctions are not effective in solving the Ukraine crisis but instead they accelerate the economic spillover. He also called the United States, NATO and the European Union to engage in a dialogue with Russia.

Chinese state-run media suggested what’s widely being referred to as the ‘Bucha massacre’ in which at least 300 civilians died is a manufactured event meant to paint Russia into a corner. “An editorial in Global Times, the nationalist tabloid affiliated with party mouthpiece People’s Daily, said the incident should not be used as a pretext for inflaming the situation,” SCMP notes.

Meanwhile the European Union has implied that Beijing is being tone deaf on the Ukraine issue, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell characterizing the latest EU summit with Xi Jinping as a “deaf dialogue”.

“China wanted to set aside our difference on Ukraine,” he said of last week’s virtual summit. “They didn’t want to talk about Ukraine. They didn’t want to talk about human rights and other issues, and instead focused on the positive things.”

China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday accused Washington of “fanning the flames” in Ukraine…

The clear allegation out of Brussels is that Beijing is showing little active interest in ending the war in Ukraine. Recently European leaders have been urging Beijing to intervene diplomatically to convince Putin to halt the invasion, which is now focused on securing Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Republished from ZeroHedge.com with permission

CCP, Geopolitics, russia

Russia and China Cement Relationship – Slam Biden’s “Illegal” Sanctions of Russia

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Joe Hoft
April 4, 2022 

Russia and China cement their relationship and together claim that Biden’s sanctions against Russia are “Illegal”.

Radio Free Asia reported on the recent meeting between Russia and China.  Biden’s actions to date have emboldened the two countries while bringing them closer together.

Russia and China further cemented their alliance on Wednesday, hitting out “illegal” international sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

“The ministers had a thorough exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement following talks between Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in the eastern province of Anhui on Wednesday.

“The head of the Russian foreign ministry informed his Chinese counterpart about the progress of the special military operation … and the dynamics of the negotiation process with the Kyiv regime,” the statement said.

“The sides noted the counterproductive nature of the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its satellites.”

The article continues:

“There is no limit to China-Russia cooperation, no limit to our efforts to achieve peace, safeguard security and oppose hegemony,” Wang told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

“China-Russia relations are non-aligned, non-confrontational and not targeted at any third party,” the spokesman said.

On Ukraine, Wang Wenbin said China would “play a constructive role and provide assistance to normalize the situation in Ukraine,” adding, “any action that could add fuel to the fire or exacerbate controversies must be prevented.”

Lavrov, who is in the country ostensibly for talks about the future of Afghanistan, said the international community is “living through a very serious stage in the history of international relations.”

It’s clear that China and Russia know that Biden is weak and as a result, America is the most vulnerable it has been for a century.  It appears these two countries are on a joint mission to destroy the US.  China has been at war with the US for years, both economically and with information.

Under Biden, China is winning.  The response from Biden related to Russia’s efforts in Ukraine leads many to think China will do the same and invade Taiwan.

These two countries have never had an opportunity like they do today to destroy the US.  By acting together they are a formidable foe for the US after only one year with Biden in power.

Economy, Finance, russia

The Ruble, The Dollar, and The Price Of Gold – Who Is Really Winning The Economic Chess Game?

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By Michael Snyder

Russia has just made some moves that are going to change the global financial system forever.  When the conflict in Ukraine originally erupted, the U.S. immediately attempted to crash the value of Russia’s currency.  Those attempts were successful for a few days, but now the value of the ruble relative to the U.S. dollar is almost all the way back to where it was before the start of the war.  This has absolutely stunned many of the experts, because they thought that U.S. sanctions would absolutely cripple Russia.  So what happened?  Well, it turns out that the Russians have made some very savvy moves that have turned the tables on the Biden administration.

For one thing, Russia has started to demand payment in rubles when it sells natural gas to non-friendly nations.  A lot of countries in western Europe are quite upset about this, but they really have no choice, because they are exceedingly dependent on Russian gas.  So from this point forward, Western powers are actually going to be forced to help prop up the value of the ruble…

Russia wants “unfriendly countries” to pay for Russian natural gas in rubles. That’s a new directive from President Vladimir Putin as he attempts to leverage his country’s in-demand resources to counter a barrage of Western sanctions.

“I have decided to implement … a series of measures to switch payments — we’ll start with that — for our natural gas supplies to so-called unfriendly countries into Russian rubles,” Putin said in a televised government meeting, adding that trust in the dollar and euro had been “compromised” by the West’s seizure of Russian assets.

Secondly, the Russians have decided that U.S. dollars will no longer be accepted as payment for anything that they sell to other nations.  Pavel Zavalny, the head of the Russian parliament, says that U.S. currency “has lost all interest for us”…

Much more interesting was Zavalny’s main point, even though it has been mostly overlooked. If other countries want to buy oil, gas, other resources or anything else from Russia, he said, “let them pay either in hard currency, and this is gold for us, or pay as it is convenient for us, this is the national currency.”

In other words, Russia is happy to accept your national currency — yuan, lira, ringgits or whatever — or rubles, or “hard currency,” and for them that no longer means U.S. dollars, it means gold.

“The dollar ceases to be a means of payment for us, it has lost all interest for us,” Zavalny added, calling the greenback no better than “candy wrappers.”

This is huge, but it isn’t being discussed much by the corporate media in the United States.

The Russians aren’t just saying that they do not recognize U.S. dollars as the reserve currency of the world any longer.

That would be bad enough.

At this point, they are actually saying that they will no longer accept U.S. dollars as a form of payment at all.

Wow.

Thirdly, the central bank in Russia has fixed the value of the ruble to the price of gold for at least the next three months…

The Russian central bank will restart buying gold from banks and will pay a fixed price of 5000 roubles ($52) per gramme between March 28 and June 30, the bank said on Friday.

But you won’t hear about this on CNN or MSNBC.

This is a move that could potentially change everything.

Once upon a time, the value of the U.S. dollar was tied to gold, and that helped the U.S. dollar become the dominant currency on the entire planet.

But then Nixon took us off the gold standard in the early 1970s, and things have gone haywire ever since.

Now Russia has linked the value of the ruble to the price of gold, and many believe that this is really going to shake things up…

“I am reminded of what the U.S. did in the middle of the Great Depression. For the next 40 years, gold’s price was pegged to the U.S. dollar at $35. There is a precedent for this. It leads me to believe that Russia’s intention would be for the value of the ruble to be linked directly to the value of gold,” Gainesville Coins precious metals expert Everett Millman told Kitco News. “Setting a fixed price for rubles per gram of gold seems to be the intention. That’s pretty important when it comes to how Russia could seek funding and manage its central bank financing outside of the U.S. dollar system.”

Others believe that this move will create great instability in the global financial system.

For example, Tom Luongo is warning that the following could soon happen…

  • 1: At $1550 per ounce the first order effect here is that is implies a RUB/USD rate of around 75. Incentivizing those holding RUB to continue and those needing them to bid up the price from current levels.
  • 2: This creates a positive incentive loop to bring the ruble back to pre-war levels.  Then after that market effects take over as ruble demand becomes structural, based on Russia’s trade balance.
  • 3: Once that happens and the RUB/USD falls below 75, then the USD price of gold rises, structurally draining the paper gold markets and collapsing the financial system based on leveraged/hypothecated gold.  Now we’re into the arb. phase @Lukegromen postulated w/ 1000bbls/oz.

Time will tell if Luongo is right or if he is wrong.

But without a doubt, things have not played out the way that Biden administration officials were hoping.

They had hoped that U.S. sanctions would crush the ruble, the Russian financial system and the entire Russian economy.

Instead, the Russians have been able to successfully prop up the value of the ruble and have made moves that directly threaten the dominance of the U.S. dollar.

No matter what happens with the ceasefire talks, I expect the United States and Russia to continue this economic conflict for the foreseeable future.

Ultimately, that will be bad for both of our nations.

And as history has shown, economic conflicts have a way of becoming shooting wars way too often.  Needless to say, we definitely do not want a shooting war with Russia.

Leaders on both sides should be attempting to find ways to achieve peace and to fix the tremendous damage that has already been done.

Unfortunately, everyone seems to want to continue to escalate matters, and that should deeply alarm all of us.